‘Good Boys’ laughs all the way to bank
Universal Pictures and a gaggle of foul-mouthed 12-year-olds proved over the weekend that, even in the Netflix epoch, comedies can still pack a boxoffice punch.
“Good Boys,” about the R-rated misadventures of three preteen buddies, collected an estimated $21 million at theaters in the United States and Canada, according to Comscore. That No. 1 total — the largest so far this year for an original comedy — exceeded analysts’ prerelease expectations by more than 30%.
Even rival studios breathed a sigh of relief. Moviegoers in North America have given a cold shoulder to one comedy after another in recent months: “Stuber,” “Late Night,” “Long Shot,” “Booksmart,” “Poms,” “The Hustle,” “Shaft.” The carnage has prompted speculation that streaming services have made it easy for audiences looking for laughs to skip theaters.
The bar does seem to be higher. “Good Boys” was more than a well-crafted film backed by a very aggressive marketing campaign; it got noticed because it pushed taste boundaries. An R-rated movie about sixth-graders? One of the only other original comedies that has found an audience this year, “Yesterday,” released by Universal in June, used an over-the-top premise and Beatles music to up the ante.
Bruce Springsteen’s songbook did not help “Blinded by the Light” (Warner Bros.), which went down in flames over the weekend. Despite mostly strong reviews, “Blinded by the Light” took in about $4.5 million, for a ninthplace start. It probably struck ticket buyers as too similar to “Yesterday,” boxoffice analysts said.
Two other new movies also fizzled. “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” (United Artists) collected $3.5 million, while “47 Meters Down: Uncaged” (Entertainment Studios) took in roughly $9 million.
Faring somewhat better was “The Angry Birds Movie 2” (Sony), which sold $10.5 million in tickets, for a domestic total of $16.2 million since arriving Tuesday. The first “Angry Birds” collected $45.7 million over its first six days in 2016.